Biblical Finances & Stewardship

First off, I want to state that I'm trying to not be hypocritical in this post. If you feel that I am being that way, please let me know; that's not how it's supposed to come across. Secondly, I (Rae) want to state that I am not very good with money. I'm a spender, not a saver, but I am trying to be better and I'm learning to stick to a budget. 

I believe that God calls us to be responsible with the money that He gives us. I also believe that a lot of Christians are not doing that. From what I understand, most debt is not biblical. Now, it's really hard and for some impossible (us included) to buy things like a house without going into debt. At times like that it's something that has to happen, but there are ways to still be responsible with that debt, it's not an excuse to be a bad steward. I see people all around us that aren't using what God gave them effectively.  As far as I can tell, there are two main ways that we misuse the resources we're given.

The first is overspending. Now, this can be in a lot of ways; and it's certainly possible to overspend on actual necessities. I'll explain. We need shelter, food, clothing, and a means to get to our place of employment. But we don't need to go into debt to get a really nice car, or expensive clothes. Yes, you need those things, but do you need to use the money that God has given you unwisely on those things?

Both Cliff and I bought our cars outright, no debt. His is newer and nicer because he saved for years longer than I did, but we still have working, reliable means of transportation. I'm a girl, so I always want newer, prettier clothes, but I have more than enough in my closet already. I don't get clothes often, but I usually shop at thrift stores or discount places like Ross or Tjmax. I have a nice, functional wardrobe. We've found that the best way to not overspend is to be content with what we have.

The second way I believe Christians misuse money is to overspend on purpose and say it's "stepping out on faith" Now I think there is a time and place for that, and God does call us to do this sometimes. But debt isn't Biblical, if you need something do the best with the resources you have, or do something to bring more money in, don't spend money you don't have willy nilly. I've seen a lot of ministries and individuals make this mistake, and it makes me sad, cause they truly believe that they're doing God's will. In some cases they are, but it seems more often they aren't.

I've seen it happen a lot, so I'll illustrate it, it goes like this:

So&so Ministry is growing and they have an idea for a new program/building/project. It varies, a lot of the time they are having difficulty meeting their current financial obligations, but not always. They don't have the extra money for this new project. Then one of two things happens, they either work at raising the money until they have all or most of it (correct way) or they go ahead and start that program/building/project without adequate funding (wrong way, most of the time). If they go ahead before they have the money, usually they either go into debt (not Biblical) or they pull money from somewhere else that needs it. I'm not talking about cutting back and trying to save more money, which I'm totally in favor of,  I'm talking about taking outright. Like using money that's needed for the electric bill for this other project.

I've seen this happen both in ministry and individuals lives. The ministry will suffer in several ways because of this mismanagement of funds. First, if they pull funds from another program, both the new and old will not be as effective or work as well as they should. Also, the people working in this ministry will be under additional stress worrying about the money situation, which will make them less effective in the ministry, and more importantly it will hurt their family life.

Mostly I've been talking about ministry, but I believe that God expects us to be responsible with the funds he gives us in our personal life too. As individuals we should be handling our finances well, and we should be an example to non-Christians of good stewardship.

Unfortunately, this is not happening much. Christians seem to be in financial stress and difficulty just as much as any other group. That's sad, because not only do we know better, we've been commanded to do better.   

Read the parable of the Unrighteous Steward

See Proverbs 6:1-5, 20:16, 22:7,26-27 (“The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.... Do not be a man who strikes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts; if you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you”).